Rod elevator



Oct. 15, 1940.

H. E. GRAU El AL ROD ELEVATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

Filed larch 2, 193'! inventor. Herbert E. Grau. Garfh 15 Nicolson.

fliiorny.

Oct. 15, 1940. H. E. GRAU ET AL I 2 Sheets-Sheet? WMN J8 In ven Z011 Herbert L. Gran.

iL/Vicolaon.

fliiorney.

Patented Oct. 15, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I son, Los Angeles, Calif., assignors to Byron- Jackson 00., Huntington Park, Califl, a corporation of Delaware Application March 2, 1937, Serial No. 128,614

11 Claims.

This invention deals generally with tubing and rod elevators for use in oil well operations, and is primarily concerned with improvements in rod elevators of the self-closing latch type, as exemplified by United States Letters Patent No. 1,774,675, granted September 2, 1930, to Nelson K. Smith, on Elevator for sucker rods and the In elevators of the present type, the body is slotted from one end to receive the rod, and forms at the end of the slot a rod supporting seat, the maximum arcuate extent of'which is limited and necessarily less than full circle by reason of the intersecting body slot. The elevator is releas- 16 ably locked to the rod by a latch mechanism which, as typified by the Smithpatent referred to above, comprises a pair of latch members projecting into and movable transversely of the bodyslot. In applying the elevator to the rod,

90 the latch members are movable apart by engagement therewith to pass the rod to full seating position at the end of the slot. Heretofore the latch members have been'made to function only as such; that is, their single and sole func- 25 tion has been to releasably lock the elevator to the rod without in any way vertically supporting the rod. The vertical rod load hasv been taken entirely bythe body seat which,,as mentioned, is necessarily less than full circular ex- 30 tent.

Under certain conditions, particularly when handling unusually long or heavy strings of rod, it is found that by reason of .the fact that the load is carried on only a part of the full circle 3 of the upset portion of the rod, leaving oneside of the rod unsupported, the elevatorltends totilt with relation to the rod, and the rod in' turn to become kinked. .And this condition becomes 'exaggerated as the elevator continues inv service 46 due to an "unevenness in wear'on therod 'supporting seats. 'In accordance with the invention, we have overcome this defect byi-affording substantially'full circle support of the fups'et portion of the rod. We have accomplished this by providing on portions of the, latch members within the body slot and opposite the body seat, rod supporting seats in such. relation that in their closed position, the latchmembers substantially complete ,a full circle rod"supp'ort'and thereby 50 provide for a uniform rod' load distributionftb theelevator that will obviate the conditions mentioned above. 1 {I ,Preferably we mount the latch members for pivotal movement about pins supported by the as 90F124, a d-in rd wereanaemia-1 cessive stresses imposed by the tendency of the rod to displace the latch members radially of the rod, we provide suitable surfaces or shoulders on the body that directly take the load so imposed on the latch members. The invention 5 also includes an improved application of spring force to urge the latch members in a closing direction. Coil type springs are preferred,'by reason of their smoothness in action, and in order not to weaken the load taking latch mem- 10 bers by having to recess them to receive the springs, we retain maximum strength in the latch members by applying the springs tolatch actuating elements positioned at and operated fro-m the end of the body opposite the rod receiving slot. l

Various additional features and objects are included within the invention, but these as well as those aspects to whichwe have particularly referred, Will'b more fully understood from the detailed description to follow. Throughout the description reference is had to the accom panying. drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the elevator showing the latch members in closed position;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2- 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan showing one of thelatch members in full open position; Fig. 4 is a transverse section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a cross section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

. The elevator comprises a body, generally in-' dicated at H], carrying trunnionsl't to which the usual supporting bails .(not shown) are applied, the body having spaced top and bottom walls I2 and I3 interconnected by side walls l4 and a rear web or wall I5, see Fig. 4. The body has a centrally positioned web l6, the interior surface Ilia of which has a circular curvature, with an intermediate recess ll, see Fig. 2, being 40 formed therein to provide clearance about the rod. An inwardly tapering slot I8 is formed in the body to receive the rod, and at the inner end of the slot, the body is provided with tapered seats l9 and 20 adapted to engage and support 4 the usual upset portion of the rod. Whilethe elevator may be of a non-reversible type, i..e. one in which only a single rod supporting seat is formed on the top wall of the body, we have chosento illustrate the invention as embodied in an elevator of the reversible type, having seats [9 and 20 of difierent taper to take rod upsets of different sizes. 7 Q

A pair of latch members 2| are arranged within thebody at oppositesidesof slot l8 for pivotal movement about a pair of pins 22 terminating within the upper and lower body walls 12 and i3, the latch members being vertically supported by the interior upset body surfaces 23 and 24 best illustrated in Fig. 5. In their closed positions, the inner ends 2 la of the latch members project within the body slot [8, and are pivotally movable apart when engaged by the rod along surfaces Zlc, to pass the rod to seating position at the end of the slot. As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5, the inner ends of the latch members are disposed opposite the body seats l9 and 20 at the same level, and have arcuate and correspondingly tapered rod seating surfaces 25 and 26 forming, together with seats l9 and 20 on the body, substantially full circle supports for the rod upset. Between the seating surfaces 25 and 26 the latch members are recessed at Ha, in conformity with the body recess 11. The rod thus being uniformly supported on a substantially complete annular seat, the elevator obviously will take any load without tending to tilt, and without such tendency occurring after continued use, for the reason that the wear on both the latch member and body seats is even and uniform. Since a substantial portion of the load is taken directly by the latch members, the latter preferably are madeof solid construction, and in order to avoid the possibility of the latch pins. 22 becoming strained as a result of the load transmitted through the latch members, these members preferably are given direct support by the body, as will now appear.

Opposite the tapered seats 25 and 26 on each of the latch members, supporting shoulders 21, see Fig. 1, are formed on both the top and bottom walls l2iand I3 of the body, the surfaces 21a of shoulders 2! and the engaging latch surfaces 21b preferably being substantially straight as viewed in plan to prevent binding of the parts upon pivotal movement of the latch members. When the rod load is taken by the latch members, the latter are supported directly by shoulders, 2'! against radialmovement relative to the rod, thus relieving pins 22 from the radial component of the rod load. As pointed out before, the vertical load on the latch members is taken by body shoulder. 24, see Fig. 5, (or by shoulder 23 in case the elevator is reversed). By thus transferring to the body both the radial and vertical components of the load carried by the latch members, and by making the latter in solid and rugged form as shown, the latch carried portion of the load is adequately supported without excessive strains being imposed on any of the parts.

The outer ends of the latch members carry operating handles or grips 28, and the inner ends of the members are received within the arcuate body slots 29 intersecting and extending transversely of the rod receiving body slot Hi. It is important that slots 29 be kept free of accumulated dirt or other foreign matter to permit full range movement of the latch members. For this purpose we provide on the inner ends of the latch'members, lateral extensions 30 overlying slots 29 and movable into recesses 3| in the top and bottom surfaces of the body beyond the ends of slots 29, when the latch members are swung to open position as shown in Fig. 3; Extensions 3O overlie the bottom walls 32 of recesses 3i in all positions of the latch members, so that at no time will slots 29 be left open for the accumulation of obstructing substances. It will be understood that where the elevator is made reversible, the construction and arrangement of the parts at the top and bottom surfaces of the elevator will correspond and appear in plan as shown in Fig. 1.

In our preferred form of the invention, provision is made whereby the latch membersmay be released from the rod by manual operation from the end of the elevator opposite slot l8 as well as from the end containing the slot. The latch members are operable from the end of the elevator opposite the slot by means of a pair of elements or levers 33 mounted for pivotal movement about pins 34 terminating in the top and bottom walls of the body, hand grips 35 being provided on the levers at opposite sides of the body web l5. Pivotal movement of levers 33 in latch member releasing directions is yieldably resisted by a pair of coil springs 36 placed withinrecesses 33a in the levers and about pins 34, the spring ends bearing against the levers and the central body web 16 as illustrated. Movement of the latch membersto their normal locking positions is limited by the engagement of the lever arm stops 3'! with the ends of body portion l6. Coiled torsion springs are preferred because of their smoothness inaction, and a particular advantage is gained by placing the springs about the operating lever pins, instead of around the latch pins 22, for the reason that the latclimembers can be made solid and thereby given maximum strength. Since none of the load is taken by the lever arm 33, the latter can be recessed, without disadvantage, to receive the springs.

The inner ends 38 of levers 33 engage bifurcated portions of the latch members 2| each formed by the body of the member and an outwardly projecting tongue 39. As shown in Fig. 4, the toothed-shaped ends 38 of the lever and the latch member surfaces 40 and 4| are similar in cross sectional shape to intermeshing gears, so that there is substantially single point contact between engaging surfaces of the levers and latch members, facilitating relative movement between the parts and rendering. their operation easy. Being confined within the latch member bifurcations, the operating levers 33 move in response to pivotal movementof the latch members in either direction, and vice versa. It may be mentioned that various featuresin the combination of the latch members and their operating mechanism are believed new in the art independently of the feature of having the latch members support part of the rod load, and that the inven-j tion, and claims not so limited, are to be construed accordingly,

We claim:

1. In an elevator of the character described, a reversible body having a rod receiving slot and upwardly facing rod seats at the end of the slot, a pair of latch members normally projecting into said slot and movable out of said slot by engagement with a rod to pass the rod into said end of the slot, a horizontal U-shaped head on the inner end of each of said latch members having upwardly facing rod supporting seats at the upper and lower sides'thereof opposite said body seats, said body having a pair of latch-receiving ways therein on opposite sides of said slot, said ways being centrally disposed'in said body and having top and bottom walls supporting said latch member in load carrying relation, recesses formed'in both top faces of said, body adapted to receive the U-shaped extensions on said latch members, said extensions projecting within the said recesses and overlying the bottoms of said recesses in all positions of the latch members,-and yielding means resisting the movement of said latch members. j v

.2. In an elevator of the character described, a bodyihaving a rod receiving slot and an upwardly facing rod seat at the end ofthe slot, a pair of latch members projecting intosaid slot and movable apart and laterally of the slot by engagement with a rod to pass the rod into said end of the slot, upwardly facing rod supporting seats on said latch members opposite said body seat, a pair of pins supported within upper and lower portions of the body. and about which said latch members are pivotally movable, each latch member being supported. by the body at vertically spaced points against radial movement with relation to the rod. I

, 3; In an elevator of the character described, a body having a rod receiving slot and-an upwardly facing rod seat at the end of the slot, a pairof latch members projecting into said slot and movable apart and laterally of the slot by engagement with a rod to pass the rod into said end of the slot, upwardly facing rod supporting seats on said latch members opposite said body seat, a pair of pins supported within upper and lower portions of the body and about which said latch members are pivotally movable, thetop wall of said body having a pair of slots extending transversely relative to the first mentioned slot and within which said latch members move, and means for preventing foreign substance from dropping into the spaces between the latch members and the ends of said transversely extending slots in all positions of said members.-

4. In an elevator of the character described, a body having a rod receiving slot and an upwardly facing rod seat at the end of the slot, a pair of latch members projecting into said slot and movable apart and laterally of the slot by engagement with a rod to pass the rod into said end of the slot, upwardly facing rod supporting seats on said latch members opposite said body seat, a pair of pins supported within upper and lower portions of the body and about which said latch members are pivotally movable, the top wall of said body having a pair of slots extending transversely relative to the first mentioned slot and within which said latch members move, the top surface of said body top wall alsohaving recesses beyond the ends of said transversely extending slots, and extensions on said latch members projecting within said recesses and overlying the bottoms of said recesses in all positions of the latch members.

5. In an elevator of the character described, a body having a rod receiving slot and an upwardly facing rod seat at the end of the slot, a pair of latch members projecting into said slot and movable apart and laterally of the slot by engagement with a rod to pass the rod into said end of the slot, upwardly facing rod supporting seats on said latch members opposite said-body seat, a pair of pins supported within upper and lower portions of the body and about which said latch members are pivotally movable, a pair of shoulders on said body and supporting the-latch members against radial movement with relation to the rod, the top wall of said body having a pair of slots extending transversely relative to the first mentioned slot and within which said latch members move, the top surface of said body top wall also having recesses beyond the ends of said transversely extending slots, and extensions on said latch members projecting within said re cessesyandioverlyingthe bottoms ofsaid recesses in .allpositions of the latch members.

6. In an elevator of the character described, a body having a rod receiving slot and an upwardly facing rod seat at the,end;of the slot, a pair of latchmembers projecting into said slot and movable apart and laterally of the slot by engagement with a rod to passthe rod into said end of the slot, upwardly facingrod supportingv seats onsaid latch members opposite saidbody seat, a pair of pins supported within upper and lower portions of the body and: about, which said latch members are pivotally-movable, a pair of latch member actuating elements operable from the end of the body oppositesaid slot to move said membersto rod releasing positions, a pair of pins aboutwhich said elementsare pivotally movable, and coil springs placed about the last mentioned pins and yieldably resisting pivotal movement of said elements. I

7. lnianelevator of the character described, a body having a rod receiving slot and an upwardly facing rod seat at the end of the slot, a pair of latch members projecting into said slot and movable apart and laterally of the slot by engagement with a rod to pass the rod into said end of the slot, upwardly facing rod supporting seats on said latch members opposite said body seat, a pair of pins supported within upper and lower portions of the body and about which said latch I members are pivotally movable, a pair of shoulders on said body and supporting the latch members against radial movement with relation to the rod, a pair of latch member actuating elementsoperable from the end of the body opposite said slot to move said members to rod releasing positions, a pair of pins about which said elements are pivotally movable, and coil springs placed about the last mentioned pins and yieldably resisting pivotal movement of said elements.

8. In an elevator of the character described, a body having a rod receiving slot and an upwardly facing rod seat at the end of the slot, a pair of latch members projecting into said slot and movable apart and laterally of the slot by engagement with a rod to pass the rod into said end of the slot, a pair of latch member actuating elements operable from the end of the body opposite said slot to move said members to rod re? leasing positions, a pair of pins about which said elements are pivotally movable, and coil springs placed about said pins and yieldably resisting pivotal movement of said elements.

9. In an elevator of the character described, a body having a rod receiving slot and an upwardly facing rod seat at the end of the slot, a

pair of solid body latch members projecting into said slot and pivotally movable apart and laterally of the slot by engagement with a rod to pass the rod into said end of the slot, a pair of latch member actuating elements operable from the end of the body opposite said slot .to move said members to rod releasing positions, a pair of pins about which said elements are pivotally movable, coil torsion springs placed about said pins within recesses in said elements and yieldably resisting pivotal movement of said elements, and interengaging means on each element and a respective latch member whereby pivotal movement of one in either direction causes the other to move pivotally.

10. In an elevator of the character described, a reversible body having a rod receiving slot and upwardly facing rod seats at the end of the slot, a latch member normally projecting into said slot and movable out of said slot by engagement with a rod to pass the rod into said end of the slot, a horizontal U-shaped head on the inner end of said latch member having upwardly facing rod supporting seats on the upper and lower sides thereof opposite said body seats; said body having a latch receiving way therein at one side of said slot, said way being centrally disposed in said body and having top and bottom walls supporting said latchmember in load carrying relation, recesses formed in both top races of said body adapted to receive the U- shaped extensions on said latch member, said extensions projecting within said recesses and overlying the bottoms of said recesses in all positions of the latch members, and yielding means resisting the movement of said latch member.

11. In an elevator of the character described, a body having a rod receiving slot and an upwardly facing rod seat at the end of the slot, a latch member normally projecting into said slot. and movable out of said slot by engagement with a rod to'pass the rod into said end of the slot, a head on the inner end of said latch member extending upwardly to a point substantially flush with the upper surface of said body and having an upwardly facing rod supporting seat at the upper end thereof opposite saidlbody seat, a horizontal extension on saidlatch head, said body having a latch -receiving way therein at one side of said slot, said way being centrally disposed in said body and havingtop and bottom walls supporting said latch member, a recess formed in the top face of said body adapted to receive said extension on said latch head, said extension projecting with in said recess and overlying the bottom of said recess in all positions of the latch member, and yielding means resisting the movement of said latch member.

HERBERT E GRAU.

GARTH F. NICOLSON. i 

